The Curious Case of Bunny

 

In a tete-a-tete with Postnoon, Allu Arjun talks about why Iddarammayilatho is different, competition with Ram Charan and why he’s in no mood to experiment.

Three days before his latest film Iddarammayilatho hits the screens, Allu Arjun is nonchalant about everything. After a gap of six years, he has worked with Puri Jagannadh and the two, he says, share a great rapport. Ask him what makes Iddarammayilatho so different from the films he has done so far, he says, “It’s a romantic-action entertainer which has been shot in a different manner. I play the role of a guitarist, who’s a street performer in Barcelona. My characterisation, styling and the whole look of the film is different compared to my previous films. It would seem quite over the top if I play a character like that in a geography like Hyderabad, but now the ambience is different, it gives a whole new dimension to the film.” His styling is one of the several aspects that has made a lot of news in the recent few weeks and it’s a result of plenty of homework. “Ashwin designed my look in the film and we did tremendous amount of research on what costumes, hair style I should sport in the film. We went shopping in Hong Kong and Bangkok and retouched the fabric. After Happy and Arya 2, I did dress rehearsals for this film and my costumes and accessories were finalised months before we began the shoot. This film will completely justify my tag of being stylish star,” he reveals.Allu Arjun is all praises for Puri Jagannadh’s style of working and the additional care that he took for Iddarammayilatho. “He might have done quirky films, but when it comes to commercial films like this, he walks the extra mile to make sure that everything falls into place. I must credit Puri Jagannadh for all the good things about the film,” Allu Arjun says. Action choreographer Kecha Khamphakdee turned out to be a revelation on the sets while shooting in Bangkok. Allu Arjun was quite impressed with Kecha’s team and says,

“Here, the action choreographer takes care of everything but in Kecha’s team there was a specialist for every minute thing. For example, a person who specialises in sword fighting will not be involved in regular stunts.” Few days ago, at an audio launch, he made a statement that he wants to see Ram Charan as the numero uno star in Telugu. We wonder if he is deliberately trying to pull out of competition. Isn’t it? “No way. The competition is always there, but Ram Charan is my cousin and I’m a loyalist of Chiranjeevi. It’s my personal wish to see him in numero uno position. Other than that, honestly, I’m always competing with myself. I want every film of mine to be bigger than the previous one,” he adds, driving the point home. Now that he has a brand associated with him and that he has the freedom to do anything he wants, how far is he willing to experiment? Turns out that it’s a big no-no. “I’m in no mood to experiment.

An actor is a brand and people watch my films because of that brand. I’ve no interest in off-beat cinema, but I would do a film with a universal appeal. Shankarabharanam wasn’t a commercial film and Bommarillu wasn’t shot in a commercial format, yet both those films have an universal appeal. When I acted in Vedam, I thought it would become an universal film, but it couldn’t reach that state. I would rather impress 90% of the audience than catering to the rest of the critics,” he signs off.